HYDERABAD: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the Centre would import one million tonne of edible oil every month for supply to various States for sale to below poverty line families (BPL) at a subsidised price. On this count, the Centre will bear a burden of Rs.1,500 crore, allowing a subsidy of Rs.15 a kg to the BPL households. Addressing a press conference with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy at the Secretariat on Monday shortly before launching a scheme to supply palm oil at a subsidised price of Rs.45 a kg, Mr. Pawar said the country was facing scarcity since only 80-85 lakh tonne of edible oils was available in the open market out of a production of 135 lakh tonne. The remaining production remained in the private sector. Under the circumstances, the UPA government had decided to ban export of oilseeds/oils, remove all types of duties on them (losing Rs.5,000 crore by way of revenue) and import one million tonne. A heavy rain forced Mr. Pawar to cancel his visit to Tandur in Ranga Reddy district, 100 km from here, to launch the scheme at a public meeting. He symbolically distributed one-kg packets of palm oil to a few beneficiaries. He said 23 States had come forward to contribute towards the subsidy and implement the scheme, AP being the earliest among them. Mr. Pawar said increase in prices of foodgrains and edible oils was a phenomenon in the developing world which was hotly debated at the Food and Agriculture Organisation meeting recently in Rome attended by 40 prime ministers and many agriculture ministers. The decision to import edible oil was taken after this meeting.He attributed the foodgrain shortage to lopsided policies of the NDA government.